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8/31/09

I went to an estate sale recently and I picked up this huge box of (used) greeting cards for $3. I know crazy huh? Those are all cards baby, no envelopes! I also got some old, fabulous upholstery fabric and all this old seam binding ribbon for a total of $2. I was giddy I tell ya~ I have never gotten seam binding on a roll before.

I also got this dress form. I pulled up to a block sale at 6:30ish in the a.m. and I got soooooooooo excited to see this as I pulled up. The price tag? $30 bucks ...eh gawds...... to pricey for me... so I razzle dazzled him and got it for $20. Who lowers the price on things for the first customer? crazy-crazy-crazy.... I am needing to cover her with something a little more "shabby chic" rather than just shabby!

Head on over to Diane's blog to see more Tuesday Treasures on her linky for "2nd Time Around Tuesday" Also.... if your wanting to see even more treasures stop over at Rhoda's blog "Southern Hospitality" If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more.... you can click here.

8/30/09

I've been working feverishly in my backyard lately...well, it sure does feel like I've got a fever working in this 100+ degree temperature! I finally got the cement foundation poured in the area that I'm wanting to place the little tikes cottage that I picked up last month (at a yard sale).... now I've just got to let the cement set up. Ugh, I hate to wait. I've got to still clean up the mess from that....Then I get the fun task of placing all this object de'art in amongst the newly planted plants... that along with putting away all the tools....I've just got one more board to cut & screw in place on my deck, then build a small step into the garden area, lay some more brick along the curved walkway.... then...then... ehhhhhhh gawds, its never ending I tell ya!! Here is what this area looked like about 2 months ago. A lot of work went into this area so far.... I'll complain brag about that in another blog post when I'm all finished with it! I am nearing completion though so thats exciting!I have also been working on my Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls. I embroidered the faces on each one...and I proclaimed in embroidery "I love you Chloe xox Nana" on Ann's chest and "I love you Jonathan xox Nana" on the chest of Andy. Who knew making dolls was soooooo time consuming? Here is armless Ann.... Andy is in pieces laughing....literally, as he isn't stitched together yet! I know, its a stretch to see a Raggedy Ann in this doll....so squint your eyes...maybe you'll see the resemblance?

8/26/09

I recently picked up these fun fabrics to get me motivated to start sewing on the Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls I'm wanting to make for.... my grandkids/ to enter into the fair/ and to show on the blog "The Faerie Wysperer" you can read about that here. I know- I know, not the traditional colors for the pair, but I'm not a traditional kinda gal~ sooooo I'm making a "shabby chic" Raggedy Ann & Andy. I've already made the arms as you can see, I opted not to sew in the finger lines-- giving each hand a bigger fuller area to be chewed on! These are going to be baby friendly dolls.

I've also been super busy building on my new deck, hopefully that will be completed soon! I am anxious to show off my hard work in my new side yard!

8/19/09

I picked up this neat old soda box for $1 last summer at a yard sale. It has been kicking around my garage & backyard until I saw the cuteness of it once again. It had orange, lime green & brown felt glued in each box. Soooooo 1970's--- but for a buck, I couldn't pass it up. I'm pretty sure it held those gawd-awful owls in its hay-day~ I was going to stick skeins of yarn in it, or store paint cans in it..... Then I got a phone call from a gal I had met up at one of our local antique shows (I just happened to give her one of my business cards)... well, long story short, she invited me to share a table with her at an upcoming show in November. I've got time to get back to her while I ponder the idea.... just incase I decide to do it, I'm going to need staging items to contain all that neat small stuff.... So, I took this box and I painted the box with some watered down acrylic white paint... Then, I lined each small cubbie with old pages from a Sears robuck catalog. I used Mod podge to adhere each piece of paper, as well as one coat of Mod podge on top of each sheet as well. Once that was all dry, I went over each piece with clear varnish so that it wouldn't be sticky. When Mod podge dries it is tacky to the touch, sticky even!!-- and things will stick to it. Once the inside was finished...I tackled the outside. I painted a pink ovalish shape on each side then proceeded to paint a design on the box.GASP-- I am not a painter! but hey, that didn't stop me. I figured I'd give it a try and if it didn't turn out caute I'd paint over it. No biggy~ I drew a design on paper so that each side would match...I am soooooo matchy-matchy... I then used some dress makers transfer paper and copied the design onto the two larger sides and then made a smaller design for the two smaller sides. Then I just filled in the areas-- I picked out light colors so it wouldn't be sooooooooo noticeable if it looked really bad! Smart thinking huh? Then of course, I got nervous about the whole darn thing-- seeing how there are true talented painters out there that would laugh at my attempts at painting (pretty postive they would laugh!) sooooooooooo I went over the newly painted area with some sandpaper! Gosh darn it.... would you ever have guessed? I love it! You can view more transformations over at "Shabby Chic Cottage" and also over at "A Soft Place to Land" Kimba is hosting a "do it yourself" linky party. The Coloradolady is also hosting a Vintage Thingie Thursday. And last, but not least...Leigh over at "Tales From Bloggeritaville" is hosting a Thrifty Thursday linky party~

8/18/09

I fell in love with these two new-but-old-looking chippy frames at a thrift store. I came right home and hung them in my bathroom over my toilet throne. I didn't even care that one print was vertical and the other one was horizontal-- the frames matched, and they are shabbish and I lourve them~ I've had them hanging in the lou now for about 4 months, I couldn't for the life of me find anything to place in those frames, until I realized DUH.... look online and print your own.I found a really neat vintage printable site and found two lovely prints and just printed those suckers out. I picked out this fabulous nest... and this one....Here they are in my frames....Taaaaaaaaa daaaaa instant caute! Sooooooo easy-peasy! Here is the link to the webpage I got these off of. Prepare to go buy somemore color ink for your printers girlies as your going to be in pig heaven! It is kinda a "messy" website... everything seems to be layed upon everything else. Once you get past that you'll find fabulous pictures to print out for your personal use. Seriously, go check it out!

You can see more neat ideas over at the blog "We are That Family" who is hosting a weekly linky party~ If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more... you can click this link to have yourself a little lookie-lou~

8/14/09

I had made these little cupcake pokes using an old-old photo of a little boy. (70 years old to be exact) I'm just now getting around to blogging about them. Where does the time go? The photo wasn't the best... the baby looks kinda bow-legged in this photo... I tried my best to get a better photo, but you have to work with what you get sometimes. A good lesson in "making-do"...something of which I am sooooooooo needing practice with. So its all good :-PI normally would have the image made into an actual photo and use that to make copies from to get a better quality result...but I figured these would all end up in the trash, so I skipped this step. I used my printer and printed the images onto cardstock- 9 to a page. I hand tinted each photo using chalk. I cut out each baby image and placed them on a new sheet. (You don't really need to do this step...but I love to cut)I then took the images to a local copy center and had them print them onto a 10 pound high gloss paper, which when copied onto this paper is very similar to the look of an actual photograph. The cost for an 8 x 11 sheet is $1.25 per sheet. I then used spray adhesive on the back of each sheet and placed a page of sheet music on the back. Then I cut out each image. (I lurve to cut!) I printed out some butterfly wings onto a transparency and cut those out and glued a set of wings behind each baby.

I used hot glue to add a small wooden dowel to the back of each fairy to be used to stick into each cupcake. If you roll the tiny dowel in the glue as you set it into place, you won't run the risk of the stick coming off. I then made a paper hat using vintage pages from an old book, attached a small piece of feather and a little bling to the hat and taaaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaa a little baby birthday fairy fit for sitting atop a cupcake! Easy-peasy.... I made chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling then frosted them with Amaretto Frosting. You can find the recipe I used here. I made chocolate nests for the top of each cupcake... I used two cans of chow mein noodles which I stirred into one 12 ounce bag of melted chocolate chips. The secret is to use a knife to lift and coat the noodles-- do not stir them as you will break them and you want them to look like sticks.

8/12/09

I recently whipped up these little cupcake toppers for a sweet/adorable little ones first birthday. Here is the image I used... Look at the precious face on this little cherub!I think these turned out super caute, of course it doesn't hurt that the baby is darling to begin with. lol Half the battle is won before you start~ Here is the set wrapped and reading to be placed in some yummy frosting~ Besides redoing my entire backyard single handedly... okokok, some slight help from my husband who has to SIT DOWN AND TAKE A BREAK when he gets out of bed in the morning before working in the yard... DON, I'm talking to you!!! Take a break before working--- geeze~ I am working on some "diet fairies" and some fridge magnets of my grandkids.... fun-fun-fun~

Granny cart make-over! Here is a little red "granny-cart" that I picked up from our local swap meet for $8. (I've got a total of 4 of these in different colors and sizes) I've had this one a few years, I've kept it in the trunk of my '66 Mustang just incase I needed a cart at a moments notice to peruse any block sale I might come across. I had previously made the red checkered liner for it, but I was never happy with how it turned out... Sooooooo I made a new liner for the little granny cart...now its a toddler tote!! Now its going to haul around toys for my grandson. In keeping with my two year old grandson's passion for anything car related, I used car fabric that I picked up at Walmart. ($4.44 a yard) The black fabric is a piece of a twin size flat sheet. (that I picked up at Walmart for $2.50) You just can't beat the price of using sheets. I love how it turned out, and most importantly-- my grandson loves how it turned out! You can also view more transformations over at "Shabby Chic Cottage" and over at "A Soft Place to Land" Kimba is hosting a "do it yourself" linky party. The Coloradolady is also hosting a Vintage Thingie Thursday. Last but not least...Leigh over at "Tales From Bloggeritaville" is hosting a Thrifty Thursday linky party~

8/10/09

This galvinized square container with the wire work on the outside was $2.95...cute!I picked up this silver heart jewelry box for only $2.95, it is actually made from a plastic resin and is painted a shiny silver.... cuter! (geeze, look at that dust!)This beautiful shabby chic candlelabra was only $5.00....Super caute!Head on over to Diane's blog to see more Tuesday Treasures on her linky for "2nd Time Around Tuesday" Also.... if your wanting to see even more treasures stop over at Rhoda's blog "Southern Hospitality" If you have linked to my blog and wish to view more.... you can click here.

I made these cupcakes with chocolate nests on top and took them to the 70th birthday party I attended this past weekend. Sooooooo easy-peasy. The chocolate nests were made using Chow Mein noodles that were coated in melted chocolate and placed on a cookie sheet covered with wax papers to "set" up. They didn't exactly photograph well...but I think they turned out caute! But heck, I am my biggest fan lol...so you'll just have to try it yourself to see just how cute they are! One bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and two cans of Chow mein noodles made 20 good sized nests.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling

1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

1 (8 ounce) container of nondairy whipped topping, thawed

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Amaretto frosting (recipe follows)

Prepare cake mix following cupcake directions. Let cupcakes cool completely. In a medium bowl, beat whipped topping and cream cheese at medium speed until smooth. Add preserves, beating until mixture is smooth. Gradually add confectioners sugar until mixture is smooth. Spoon mixture into a squeeze bottle with a long narow tip. Insert tip into top of each cupcake.... (squeezing about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each cupcake) Then frost the cupcakes with this Amaretto frosting...

Amaretto Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 (7-ounce) jar marshmellow creme

2 3/4 cups confectioners sugar

2 tablespoons almond flavored liqueur (I used 1 tablespoon almond extract-- you just never know who is in AA these days~)

In a medium bowl, beat butter and marshmellow creme at medium speed until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar. Add almond flavored liqueur or extract beating until smooth. Spread on cupcakes and enjoy!!

8/5/09

I picked up this woven birds nest candle holder (that is attached to a metal branch) recently-- knowing full well what I was going to do with it immediately!

We are attending a 70th birthday party.... and sooooooo I made the birthday boy into a darling little pixie. A little spray paint and flowers added to the nest, the black & white image hand tinted...wings & party hat and some nesting materials....taaaaaaa daaaaaaaa~ caute!

Here is a close up of the little birthday boy in all his finery. He has butterfly wings made out of real feathers and a paper party hat made out pages from a 70 year old book. Doesn't the baby have that "give me a cupcake" glazed look in his eyes~

Speaking of cupcakes... I am making this very image into cupcake pokes, I am hopeful I'll be able to share those soon.

I picked up this painted trunk lid at a thrift store for $2. I think it is beautiful! I couldn't very well hang a trunk lid on my wall....so I turned it into a "painting" The original size was 20 x 27 with the lid depth of about 4 inchs. When it was all finished it ended up being 24 x 15.I pulled it apart and found that the rose painting was merely painted onto a thin piece of plywood. There was some raised pieces that were missing off of this when I bought it, there was no way I could touch up the paint to match the lovely color that it is painted. So, I opted to cut it down and cover the damaged area with the trim I had previously taken off of this piece. Here it is cut smaller, the existing trim will be reattached to cover the damaged border of this painting. I painted around the edges of the plywood with some black paint to cover the newly cut edges of the plywood that sat right behind the newly attached old trim. I then just added different browns and mudded them up a bit to get an aged look to the piece.Taaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaaa easy-peasy transformation.... now where to put it? For now, its going to be propped up behind my bedroom door against the wall because I don't have a place for it just yet!

8/2/09

If you love Lemon Meringue pie you will absolutely love-LOVE this recipe. I don't think I'll ever make a lemon meringue pie again-- seriously, this is like a slice of pie only with a thicker crust on the bottom and no fickle meringue to deal with. Please try this recipe, you'll thank me...seriously!!

Lemon Squares

Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) cold, unsalted butter, (cut up)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

5 eggs, at room temperature

1 tbsp grated lemon peel

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 inch pan with foil, letting foil extend about 2 inches above ends of pan. (for lifting out easily after it is baked) Either spray the foil or rub some butter all over it so the bars won't stick. 2.) Crust: Mix flour, confectioners sugar, butter and vanilla together until small crumbs form. With lightly floured fingers, pat over bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 18 minutes or until a pale golden color. Filling: Blend sugar and cornstarch together. In a mixer bowl, beat in the eggs one at a time. Add lemon juice, butter and beat until well blended. This will make a super watery mixture.... no worries, just pour it right onto the prebaked crust. Bake 20 to 45 minutes until set, depending on your oven.... The lemon mixture on top should be firm...so keep checking it every 5 minutes or so until it doesn't jiggle~ The top will be slightly browned, this is normal. Cool completely. Refridgerate for 1 hour. Dust with confectioners sugar. Lift the bars out by using the foil, cut around the entire edge to release the bars from the foil and then just cut into 24 squares. Oh my goooooooooooodness...it is soooooooooo darn good!!

I am a mixed media artist. I love to sew, embroider, crochet and create things using vintage objects. I love: old classic cars, vintage fabrics, old buttons, cats, shabby chic furniture & linens.... chewing gum, diet pepsi, sneakers, chocolate and gardening~ I like to rummage through thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales and the occasional curbside trash pile. I don't mind getting dirty for treasures! I like to repurpose found objects throughout my home and garden.